MIDDLETOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- A United States Postal Service mail carrier had his hands zip-tied and was robbed at gunpoint.

Middletown Police believe this is part of a trend targeting postal workers and think the suspects are after the keys to blue mailboxes.

The latest robbery involving a local postal worker occurred on Dec. 29 at the Meridian on Shelbyville Apartments in Middletown.

"We had officers in the area that responded quickly and discovered that he indeed had been held up at gunpoint," Middletown Police Dept. Chief Robert Herman said.

Meridian on Shelbyville Apartments in Middletown.jpeg

Outside of Meridan on Shelbyville Apartments in Middletown.

Herman says the suspect, a Black male in his 20's, produced a handgun and took his U.S. Postal Service keys and a cell phone.

The suspect then tied the victim's hands before leaving the scene in a black Dodge Charger.

"There were several people walking in the neighborhood that came to his assistance and were able to cut the ties and then call for help," Herman said.

There weren't any witnesses but the robbery is alarming to neighbors.

"Overall, I feel relatively safe but it is something that's still in the back of my head, that I need to kind of watch out," Jamie Levalley, a neighbor, said.

Herman says people are getting into the postal boxes and sifting through mail to possibly find money, checks or gift certificates.

"We've seen an uptick in the reports that are being reported to us, of checks being what they say washed, where they've erased the information on the check, rewrote the check, and issued it to themselves," Herman said.

If you have any information about the robbery or the suspect, you can call the Middletown Police Department's anonymous tip line at 502-755-4MPD. 

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